Dim Sum Recipe #1: Siu Mai Dumplings

It doesn’t get more Cantonese or more delicious than this:  steamed siu mai dumplings, the “must-have” of any dim sum meal.  My parents live in Rowland Heights, an outer-suburb of Los Angeles, also known as one of the best places to get Chinese food in all of California. This city has become an Asian American ethnic enclave over the last 15 years, with many choices of Cantonese, Mandarin, and Taiwanese restaurants to choose from.  My parents often remark that they are “tired of eating” as a result of living there.  If you are ever in LA and stop by Rowland Heights, you will most certainly realize what they mean.

If you are going out for dim sum (aka to “yum cha” or literally, to “drink tea”) you will see bamboo steamers filled with piping hot siu mai at pretty much every table in the restaurant, with of course, a teapot of hot tea to share.

Getting dim sum is one of the times where “tea etiquette” takes on an entirely different meaning.  When ordering, it’s important to focus, know what you want, and be clear with the Chinese cart ladies.  If all else fails, point to what you want.  There is no time for dawdling or shyness here–for goodness sake, people are eager to get their siu mai fix on!  Above all, just don’t piss off the Chinese cart ladies, otherwise they won’t come back.

If you are wanting to forgo the weekend Chinese restaurant madness but are still craving some delicious siu mai, here is the recipe for you.  Of course it’s always fun going out to dim sum, but once in a while it’s really satisfying making your own set of steamy dumplings, especially since you can make them healthier and have lots of leftovers too!  These siu mai are simple to make, classic, and delicious…perfect with a cup of pu-erh or oolong tea.

Topping options for siu mai:  mini cubed carrots, thinly sliced green onions, a tiny blob of chili sauce, or my untraditional favorite…a single salmon caviar egg!

Siu Mai Dumplings (Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumplings)

Makes about 30 dumplings.

Ingredients:

6 oz fresh deveined shrimp

1 lb ground pork

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms (I used sliced but you can also use whole)

3 green onions, thinly sliced, white portions removed

2 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp cooking sherry

1/2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chicken bouillon

1/4 tsp white pepper

wonton or siu mai wrappers

non-stick spray

mini cubed carrots, thinly sliced green onions, chili sauce, or salmon caviar eggs to garnish (optional)

Equipment:

large bamboo steamer

wok with slightly larger diameter than steamer OR a stockpot with exactly the same diameter as the steamer

cookie scoop with 1 3/4″ diameter (2 Tbsp)

Directions:

1.)  Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 20-30 minutes depending on size.  When completely softened, drain off liquid, remove stems (if using whole mushrooms), give mushrooms a light squeeze to remove excess moisture, and cut into small pea sized pieces. Alternatively, place hydrated, drained, and squeezed mushrooms in a food processor and pulse until you get small pea sized pieces.  Set aside into a large mixing bowl.

2.)  Chop (or process) shrimp into small pea sized pieces.  Add to mixing bowl.

3.)  Add ground pork, green onions, egg whites, soy, sherry, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, bouillon, and pepper to the mixing bowl and gently mix until all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

4.)  Prepare a large, clean workstation for assembling the dumplings.  This station should include a small bowl for water and the bowl of mixed meat filling.  Place a damp paper towel over the wrappers to prevent them from drying out.  Prepare the bamboo steamer by lightly spraying it with non-stick spray or by placing a round piece of parchment in the base of the steamer.  If using parchment, pierce or cut several small holes all over the parchment round so that the steam will circulate and cook the dumplings evenly.

5.)  To fill wrappers, place an even scoop of the meat filling in the center of each wrapper, then use fingers to wet all 4 exposed edges of wrapper.  Bring up edges of wrapper and stick them to the sides of center “meatball.”  Tighten the dumpling wrapper around the filling with your fingers, forming a cylinder-like shape with a flat bottom.

6.)  Place open-faced dumplings into prepared steamer, about 1″ apart from one another and away from the sides of the steamer.  When the steamer is full of dumplings, fill the wok or stockpot 1/2 full with water and place on stove top on high heat.  When water has reached a full boil, place the bamboo steamer (with top on) atop the wok/stockpot.  Steam siu mai for 10-12 minutes or until completely cooked through.

7.)  Garnish siu mai tops with carrots, green onion, chili sauce, or caviar.

Step-By-Step:

Simple ingredients for a traditional dumpling

My secret to professional looking siu mai…a cookie scoop!  Works for cookies so why not for dumplings?

Use generous dabs of water to stick skins to side of “meatball” centers

This completes my first post on dim sum…stay tuned, many more to come!

Dim Sum Recipe #2:  Honeyed Pork Buns (Baked Char Siu Bao)

Dim Sum Recipe #3:  Ha Gao Dumplings

Dim Sum Recipe #4:  Egg Custard Tarts (Dan Tat)

Dim Sum Recipe #5:  Pork & Chive Potstickers

Leave a Reply to Jenny Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SherryE

Excellent! Can these be frozen after cooking…or should they be frozen before cooking? I know I could personally eat all 30 of them…but that would be foolish…wouldn’t it?

Reply
bonnieeng

Hi Sherry! You will have the most delicious result if you freeze them before cooking. You can park them on a parchment covered cookie sheet after they are filled, then pop them in the freezer until they completely harden. Place the individually frozen dumplings in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When it’s showtime, cook them just as you would the fresh ones, directly from freezer to steamer (no thawing), but up the steam time by about 4 minutes. Thanks for stopping by and happy cooking!!

Reply
Yvonne @ Dress This Nest

I just came across your blog from the Alt Blog Roll and am SO glad I did! What a GREAT idea for a blog! I LOVE tea and tea-related food. I am a new follower! Can’t wait to see what you post next.

Reply
Zellda

They tasted great! Thanks so much for the recipe. And they’re actually not too difficult to make with a food processor. I hope to keep making these regularly!

Reply
An Ibrahim

Hi Bonnie,
I don’t eat pork, i can sub with beef, do i need to add something else to add more flavor?

cheers

Reply
Bonnie Eng

Hi An!
Sure you can substitute with beef. A ground beef with a 80/20 lean-to-fat ratio will yield similar results to the dumplings made with ground pork. Hope this helps! 😉

Reply
Bonnie Eng

Hi Elizabeth! To be quite honest, I’ve never actually had veal before! Surprising, I know…

As long as it has a fair amount of fat in it, you’ll be good. Traditional recipes for siu mai add bits of lard in, but I wanted to make these a bit healthier, so 15-20% fat in a ground meat would be what I suggest…thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Reply
Hailey

I am so happy I found your blog! I love tea and food to compliment it so finding this gem makes me estatic! I do not know if this is in Cantonese or Mandarin, but my friend took my husband and I to a Chinese resturant where she ordered Xiao Long Bao. I think it had soup in the dumpling. Would you have a recipe for this?

Reply
Almeda Loughman

After I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I recieve four emails with the exact same comment. Is there a way you are able to remove me from that service? Thank you!

Reply
Chet Bostick

Howdy! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your articles. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Thank you so much!

Reply
Jonathan

Marry me please?
And feed me Siu Mai all night long.

I need to learn how to make these.

Reply
Edswardo

I’ve been making siu mai for years and found this recipe and thought I’d give it a try. Pan fried them at the end and they was superior to any other iterations of the recipe I’ve made! Thank you so much

Reply
Jenny

This is the most delicious things I know. I use my mini food steamer to prepare dumplings every weekened. That’s a hell of happiness and delight. It does taste good and I believe there is a lot to experiment with this.

Reply
<< PREVIOUS POST NEXT POST >>